Dark matter searches at Jefferson Lab

The overwhelming evidence for dark matter (DM) in cosmological observations, manifested by its gravitational interactions, has inspired a major experimental effort to uncover its particle nature. The LHC, as well as direct and indirect detection experiments, have significantly constrained one of the best-motivated weak-scale DM models (WIMPs as dark matter candidates). In contrast, scenarios involving a light hidden sector dark matter with masses in the MeV-GeV range has garnered a good deal of attention. Models with hidden U(1) gauge symmetry are particularly attractive as they can be tested experimentally. If these vector gauge bosons or dark/heavy photons exist, they mix with ordinary photons through kinetic mixing, which induces their weak coupling to electrons, e. Since they couple to electrons, heavy photons are radiated in electron scattering and can subsequently decay into e +e − or to a pair of light dark matter particles. Experiments at Jefferson Lab use these signatures to search for heavy photons or light dark matter particles in the MeV to GeV mass range. In this talk, I will summarize the experimental program and introduce facilities at Jefferson Lab for dark matter searches.